When was the peak of American culture?

[CaughtintheMiddle1990]

I'd say the peak was probably between the late 1940s and mid 70s--so like 1945-1974 or so.
Or maybe 1945-1965--As WWII was ending and Vietnam was beginning. In that period there was a sense of "America can do anything" mentality which is absent today--It was a time I'd dub the Pax Americana.

[M21]

What is American culture?

[Wei Wu Wei]

That area was marked by unprecidented growth, the largest expansion of the middle class in history, it was a time of rising wages and strong labor unions, taxes were more fair and it only required 1 income to sustain a middle class family. Economically speaking, it's what conservatives today would call "SOCIALISM". The rich were taxed far more, the middle and working classes were boosted by government programs, and labor unions were a very powerful force (much more powerful than today).

It was much easier to "make it" back then, all you needed was some hard work and the rest was easy. Back then CEO's made about 24 times what their workers made, a much more fair piece of the pie. Poverty dropped steadily every year for decades until 1973.

Economically speaking and in terms of social mobility, the 50's, 60's, and first part of the 70's were the golden Era.

Socially speaking it was an atrocious time, racism was not just some thing we talked about, it was written into the law. Discrimination was awful, civil rights were stomped on, it was a dark and shameful period of our history but thankfully despite the efforts of the social conservatives of the time, civil rights won.

[Novaheart]

I'd say the peak was probably between the late 1940s and mid 70s--so like 1945-1974 or so.
Or maybe 1945-1965--As WWII was ending and Vietnam was beginning. In that period there was a sense of "America can do anything" mentality which is absent today--It was a time I'd dub the Pax Americana.

March 3, 1861

[Novaheart]

What is American culture?

[Wei Wu Wei]

Also, keep in mind that right after WWII, we were positioned just right to become to leading superpower. Every other major power had their infrastructers destroyed, we became the sole provider of goods like automobiles and other manufactured goods.

The era of America being the director of the world is over, we are entering what Fareed Zakaria calls "a post-American world" where we are not longer the leader, but simply just another party in an ever more diverse picture. Globalization is something real today and it's not something we can just ignore, appealing to ideals of another time when the economic reality was far different.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Since that time, wages have stagnated, workers aren't getting paid any more than they were back then (adjusted for inflation of course), but prices have soared. The top 1-5% of the population are making several hundreds times more than what they used to, while the average income is the same.

Single-income households are becoming a thing of the past, poverty is soaring, and the largest job growth is in very low-paying service sector jobs (like fast food),

In the 50's and 60's, it was the era of the Middle Class American. That's all over now, wealthy Americans are having their hey-day.

[M21]

Budweiser is owned by Belgian brewer InBev SA.

[CaughtintheMiddle1990]

Also, keep in mind that right after WWII, we were positioned just right to become to leading superpower. Every other major power had their infrastructers destroyed, we became the sole provider of goods like automobiles and other manufactured goods.

The era of America being the director of the world is over, we are entering what Fareed Zakaria calls "a post-American world" where we are not longer the leader, but simply just another party in an ever more diverse picture. Globalization is something real today and it's not something we can just ignore, appealing to ideals of another time when the economic reality was far different.

No--we don't just have to basically sit back and take it. We can do SOMETHING, anything, that puts us back where we were as the ''director of the world'' as you put it. It's not impossible.

[Wei Wu Wei]

No--we don't just have to basically sit back and take it. We can do SOMETHING, anything, that puts us back where we were as the ''director of the world'' as you put it. It's not impossible.

We've been telling the rest of the world to open up their markets and they've finally listened.

We're not the director of the world anymore, we can't go back in time. Changes in markets, changes in political pictures, and especially changes in technologies cannot be undone. The internet isn't just going to go away.

We don't NEED to be the directors of the world, but we do need to accept this changing reality and adapt to it if we still want to be a powerful force and a secure society in this changing world.


Here is a short interview about just this Post-American World:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA7srwym3Yk